The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
Dan Rashbaum is in Tallahassee about to try the murder case for Donna Adelson. He previously represented Donna's son, Charlie Adelson. Both waived conflicts, but last night Charlie filed a motion asking that Dan not cross examine him. That threw the case into chaos this morning as jury selection was supposed to start. You can follow along here:
Judge Stephen Everett is hearing from lawyers on both sides about Charlie Adelson's assertion Monday that he doesn't waive his conflict of interest involving Dan Rashbaum, the defense attorney who represented him at trial & is representing his mother, Donna Adelson, in her trial.
— Jeffrey Burlew (@JeffBurlew) September 17, 2024
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida has a new "Whistleblower Non-Prosecution Pilot Program":
The Whistleblower Program is designed to encourage voluntary self-disclosure by individual participants in certain types of non-violent criminal conduct involving corporations, to include financial crimes, corporate crimes, health care fraud, and public corruption.
In exchange for
self-disclosing, fully cooperating with authorities, and paying any applicable
victim compensation, restitution, or forfeiture, including returning any
ill-gotten gains, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of
Florida (USAO-SDFL) will enter into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) where
certain specified conditions are met. One of those conditions is that the
government was not previously aware of the criminal conduct that is the subject
of the disclosure. The Whistleblower Program provides transparency
regarding the circumstances in which the USAO-SDFL prosecutors will offer NPAs
to incentivize individuals (and their counsel) to provide original and
actionable information. Incentivizing the disclosure of information will: (i)
help law enforcement investigate and prosecute criminal conduct that might
otherwise go undetected or be difficult to prove; and (ii) encourage companies
to create compliance programs that help prevent, detect, and remediate
misconduct.
Here are some pictures (courtesy of Judge Stuzin, pictured below with our newest magistrate judge).
By John R. Byrne
Yesterday our three newest district court judges were interviewed by Judge Ruiz at the Four Seasons. The event was very well received. As you can see from the picture, the Four Seasons opted for a new presentation format, dumping the typical panel table setup for something more casual. The three judges each commented on the challenges of their first six months as a “DJ” (as Judge Ruiz short-cited it) and provided insight into the inner workings of their chambers and pet-peeves. The people who attended said Judge Ruiz led a fun and lively discussion about judging. To quote one prominent lawyer in attendance, “We are clearly in great hands with these three ‘new’ judges.”
Photo credit to Judge Robert Watson!
We
haven't had a prosecutor on the podcast before. But there's been a lot
in the news about prosecutorial independence. Should a governor, for
example, have the power to remove an elected state attorney? What if
the state attorney says he or she is not going to enforce a particular
law? Alberto Gonzales, the former United States Attorney General, joins
the podcast to discuss these interesting issues and others. Gonzales is
the current dean of Belmont Law School and is also a former judge, so
he has an interesting perspective. Gonzales is friendly, engaging, and
pretty transparent about his time as AG. I think you'll enjoy the
episode.
As always, you can catch this and other episodes on the web or on every podcast platform, including Apple and Spotify.
And in light of the presidential debate tonight, check out this clip
of the former Attorney General discussing the rhetoric in politics and
whether he is ready to make an endorsement in the election. Here's one more of him discussing the role of White House counsel, using the Aschroft/Comey incident as an example.
***
If you have a friend that would like to receive these updates, please have them sign up here.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is on her book tour ("Lovely One"), and this weekend brought her back to her hometown Miami. On Saturday morning, she spoke at the University of Miami and was interviewed by Stephen Rosenthal.
And for the evening event, she packed the Arsht Center with about 2,400 people. Judge Gayles interviewed her, and it was a really lovely event.
Speaking of dynamic and engaging -- did you see Judge Roy Altman made Professor Ilya Shapiro's short list of Supreme Court nominees if Trump is elected? I'd be all for another Miamian headed to SCOTUS.
By John R. Byrne
It happens enough in real life that we've all seen it playacted on T.V. or in the movies. Man (or woman) walks into a convenience store, pulls a gun on the cashier, demands money, gets money, and walks out. Question: in such a situation, has the cashier been "physically restrained"? Because if the answer is "yes," under the federal guidelines the man (or woman) in this hypothetical should receive a two-level enhancement under USSG § 2B3.1(b)(4)(B).
Under current Eleventh Circuit precedent, the answer is "yes,” the idea being that the threat with a weapon is sufficient to freeze the person in place. That’s something that Judges Rosenbaum, Newsome, and Abudu think should be revisited by the Eleventh Circuit as a whole. That's what they discussed yesterday in US v. Delon, which we excerpt below. Judge Newsome even turned again to ChatGPT and other AI-powered language models for their thoughts on the phrase "physically restrained." Interesting take.
Opening weekend for the Dolphins. Let’s go Fins!
Deleon by John Byrne on Scribd
